According to the United Nations, near 70 percent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Those who are returning must rebuild from nothing.
Rafah is destroyed, with homes, shops, streets and healthcare facilities in ruins and electricity and water systems damaged. The area is also unsafe due to scattered unexploded artillery in the remnants of buildings, which will take years to clean.
“Health services, including the rest of humanitarian aid, and rebuilding of the city is needed for life to be able to come back to Rafah, but it’s still too dangerous for people to return in most areas,” says MSF emergency coordinator support Pascale Coissard.
“As we were going to visit the former MSF Shabboura clinic in Rafah, we saw a child playing with a shell in Mawasi area. Although we cannot hear the bombs anymore, there are still dangers.”
In May 2024, Rafah had the largest concentration of displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with an estimated 1.5 million people living in tents and makeshift shelters. In these inhumane conditions, people faced disease outbreaks, malnutrition, and the psychological impact of being forcibly displaced multiple times.